LEARNING HOW TO GHOST HUNT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: PERSONAL CHALLENGE, DAY 44 (10.30.12)

Tonight I went to a book signing at Vroman’s Bookstore on Colorado in Pasadena. I have been to book signing’s before but this was the first books signing I have been to where the book focuses on the Paranormal and the author is a Psychic Medium Ghost Hunter. The book is entitled “Ghosthunting in Southern California” by Sally Richards.

Unlike other authors who tend to read passages from their books, Sally started off the evening with a presentation about the history of spiritualists. She talked about her own history and her experiences with death, drowning at a young age as well as being struck by lightning during her adulthood. Her near death experiences have opened her up to another realm where she can communicate with spirits and feel energies that the rest of us can only imagine experiencing.

She has her own team of “ghost hunters” that goes out and communicates with the spirits. Sally works mostly with the photographic experts. As a photographer myself, it was interesting to hear her techniques for capturing ghosts inside photographs. I am personally skeptical when it comes to ghosts in photographs. I teach my students how to “fake” ghost photos. But some of the images that Sally showed us, I have no way of explaining the effects captured in her images, especially a few photographs of her daughter. Dust, slow shutter speed, or a lens flare are the usual explanations for images captured by some of the famous ghost hunter crews (like Ghost Adventures) but again, these explanations don’t work with the photographs of her daughter where there is a strange lighting effect only on her face. It was interesting to see.

Aside from her photographs, Sally has many fascinating stories and mentioned that she is currently working on a ghost hunting book for Northern California. As for the Southern California edition, it does cover some of the most interesting places in Southern California, like the Queen Mary, Linda Vista Hospital and the Cobb Estate. I first purchased this book at Vroman’s when I started my personal challenge, visiting the Cobb Estate on the first day. Her book is a great resource for places I still want to visit and I can’t wait to see what she find up in Northern California.